I am seriously considering the F1. For those of you that have one, I have a few questions.
1. Is the fresnel any good, or am I better off with the standard ground glass and upgrading that?
2. When you lock the front standard, does it truly lock in place or you still able to shift and swing the standard.
3. Does any one know if the bellows are IR tight or if not are they interchangeable with Shen Hao bellows? I have a set of Shen Hao non-universal bellows I could switch with if need be.
1) I have the fresnel and like it a lot. I think this is one of those "personal decision."Originally Posted by Jeff Dexheimer
2) the lock slips a little, so while you cannot shift and swing, there can be a little play so you should be careful. I do wish that it has a zero detent.
3) no idea re: IR.
The bellows are indeed apparently interchangeable with Shen Hao bellows.
Funny, I was just poking around the internet in regards to thinking about the F1 yesterday as well. Specifically if it would be an improvement over my Wista. I like the Wista OK, but it does seem a little rickety, and I am wondering if the asymmetrical shifts of the F1 would benefit me. Of course my searching quickly spiraled out of control (as it usually does) when I started looking at Ebony and Technikas.
I dont own an f1, yet!
No zero lock on the front but it stays in place as long as you don't twist it.
I use shenhao bellows on my n-2 and i dont believe they have changed anything. My n-2 bellows were not IR proof in my tests and i have not heard of a fabric change but i think pkm25 is using his camera w/ir film.
It'll be a better camera than the shenhao you sold (and koh relisted on ebay promptly).
Everything I read about the F1 says I will like it more than the Shen Hao, which is why I sold my Shen Hao. I did like the set-up of the shen, but it felt flimsy and wasn't as well built as I would have liked. I wasn't worried about the sale price of it since I didn't pay much more than I sold it for. I also have had several other trades that have worked in my favor so I think of it as a wash.
I've had my F1 since they came out, and the only criticisms I would make are universal to the general Chamonix/Philips type design, I.e. Slightly fiddly setup and hard to really zero the front swing with any kind of precision when using super wide lenses (only really applicable if trying to shoot lenses of 65mm and shorter at apertures around f/11 or wider, not a problem for regular 5x4" lenses at usual f/22 apertures). Other than that it's been superb. Light, rigid, and a thousand times better made than the Shen Hao I had years ago. Plus the rear asymmetric tilt is a great feature worth having.
Dave,
There are (a lot of) situations you do not want rear tilt but front tilt: is there a way to transfer the tilt angle from the rear to the front (and zero the back again), or is this in theory not possible any way ?
Best,
Cor
You could get a protractor and measure it, then transfer the tilt to the font, but this would surely take longer than just focussing with front tilt anyway in the first place. Plus you've probably have to recompose slightly.
iphone using the inclinometer.
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